Zim - Disney World MADNESS!!
by Invader Sam
Summary: Prof. Membrane Takes Dib & Gaz to DW in Orlando & Zim just happens to follow along. ^_^
1. Part 1 - The Announcement

Invader Zim – Disney World Madness!!  
  
(Inspired by an odd conversation at McDonald's Saturday night ^_^)  
  
By Sam & Shaun (but mostly Sam)  
  
Part I  
  
The Egg & the Announcement  
  
Dib lifted a large boulder in his front yard, and pulled a worm out from under it. "Perfect!" he said, holding it up, "If I hook up my new, miniature spy camera to this worm, I could spy on Zim and he wouldn't even know it! Fwa-ha-ha…"  
  
It was the first of July, and over 80 degrees, but Dib didn't care. Even massive heat couldn't stop his endless quest to rid the planet of all things supernatural. The sun glinted off of his glasses as he headed back towards the house, cupping his prize between his hands.  
  
His sister, Gaz was sitting in the shade of the front step, playing her Game Slave 2. As Dib approached her, a sinister grin spread across his face. "Hey Gaz," he said. She glanced up, annoyed. "Worm!" he said and dangled it in front of her face.  
  
"Eww!" Gaz said, "Get it a way from me!!" She then commenced to beat her brother on his big head with her GS2.  
  
"Ow! Ow! Ow!" Dib said, then ran inside yelling, "DAD! Gaz is hitting me!"  
  
"He started it!" Gaz shouted, running after him, "He shoved an ugly worm in my face!"  
  
The siblings raced through the living room and down the stairs to the Prof.'s lab, both still yelling about who "started it".  
  
The Prof. put a hand out and they fell silent. "Not now, you two," he said, "I'm in the middle of something very important!"  
  
Dib and Gaz watched as Prof. Membrane stood aside to reveal a giant green spotted egg. "What's in that, Dad?" Dib asked.  
  
"Um…they don't know yet," Membrane said, "They found it off the coast of Zanzibar and sent it to me to examine. So far, there haven't been any leads. This egg-shell blocks our x-rays. The only clue we have is…well, I'll show you. Gaz," he said, "Would you get me that can over there?" He gestured to a table on the far side of the lab.  
  
Gaz walked over and stood on tip-toe to reach the can. Then she brought it over to her father. He opened the can and she grimaced. "Eww! More worms…what is it with boys and worms?"  
  
"These are important worms, Gaz!" Membrane said, "They've been injected with dozens of chemicals to make them tasty to our little friend… whatever it is…" He pulled a worm out of the can and dropped it in a small hole that had been drilled in the egg. A loud CRUNCH was heard as the worm disappeared. "You see? There is already something alive inside it, and it's developing as we speak! Fascinating, isn't it?"  
  
"Sounds alien to me," Dib said, climbing onto Membranes chair and looking over his notes. He spotted a pile of photos. "What're these?" he asked, flipping through them.  
  
"Oh, those are photos from the expedition team that brought the egg back," Membrane said simply.  
  
Then something in one of the photos caught Dib's eye. In the corner of the photo was (unmistakably) a bit of Zim's Voot Cruiser flying away over the trees of Zanzibar. "Aw, man!! It's ZIM!!! That must be his egg!! He planted it in Zanzibar to hatch and wreak havoc!!" he cried, shoving the picture in his dad's face, "See? See? See??"  
  
Membrane rolled his eyes and snatched the picture away. "If I've told you once, I've told you a million times, these aliens are all in your head. It's high time you started putting all that energy into more important things…like school work, perhaps."  
  
"But it's July…" Dib said helplessly.  
  
"Oh…right," Membrane said. He pondered that for a moment, and then snapped his fingers. "Oh, that's right, I wanted to tell you something last week but you know how it is, having the egg arrive and all…"  
  
Dib and Gaz glanced at each other, wondering if their father would ever get to the point.  
  
"But anyway," Membrane said at last, "I've been meaning to tell you that I've scheduled us a bit of a vacation!"  
  
Dib and Gaz didn't look impressed.  
  
"Is it to the Science Museum again?" Dib asked.  
  
"Like last year?" Gaz said.  
  
"No, their closed for renovations this year, and I don't see why you didn't enjoy that as thoroughly as I did." Prof. Membrane looked indignant.  
  
"No offense Dad, but watching a simulation of two atoms performing ionic bonding isn't exactly fun by our standards. Educational, but not fun," Dib said.  
  
"Boring you mean," Gaz said.  
  
Membrane sighed. These children were impossible. "No matter. I think you both will enjoy this year's trip." He pointed in the air dramatically, "We're going to DISNEY WORLD!!"  
  
"Really?" Dib and Gaz said together.  
  
Membrane nodded. "Yes, and the plane leaves at 7:30 tonight, so pack your things!"  
  
Excited, the kids ran off to pack. Membrane chuckled contently to himself, then resumed feeding the egg worms.  
  
* * *  
  
Meanwhile, at Zim's freakish little house in the cul-de-sac, Zim and GIR were down in the bowls of his base. Zim was searching for his egg. GIR was playing with a rubber moose and a rubber pig.  
  
Zim had torn the lab apart, searching. "GIR!!" he yelled at last, "What have you done with the egg??"  
  
GIR didn't answer. He was hitting the pig with the moose. "And then the moose ate the stinky piggy!!" he said, then turned to his master, "What?"  
  
Zim growled, "What did you do with the egg??"  
  
GIR cocked his head to one side, "The green one?"  
  
"YES! The green one," Zim said, growing more and more impatient.  
  
"I put it in the back seat when we went to the jungle!" GIR said, "He wanted to see!" GIR giggled insanely and tossed his toys in the air.  
  
Zim sighed. "Computer," he said, "Take me to the main hanger." The floor opened up and began to lift him up to the roof as GIR jumped on.  
  
There was a rare moment of silence between the two until GIR asked, "Do we have a not-main hanger?"  
  
"Yes, why?" Zim asked, confused.  
  
"What's in it?" GIR asked loudly.  
  
"The emergency escape shuttle. I took it out of the Cruiser to make more room," Zim said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.  
  
"Ohhh… I understand," GIR said. He thought for a moment (a rare sight indeed) then spoke up again, "What if we blow up and can't get away?"  
  
"You speak nonsense GIR!! Nothing can harm the finest in Irken engineering!!! Do you hear me?!?! NOTHING!!!!!!!!!" shouted Zim at the top of his lungs.  
  
"What about the bee?"  
  
"I told you never to mention that horrible bee again, GIR."  
  
GIR nodded, then completely changed the subject (loudly!), "Can I fly the shuttle?"  
  
"No, GIR."  
  
"Please, Please, Please, Please, Please, Please, Please, Please, Please, Please, Please, Please, Please, Please, Please, Please, Please, Please, Please, Please, Please, Please, Please, Please, Please, Please, Please, Please, Please-"  
  
"OK! OK! Just don't crash it, and be very careful," Zim said, exasperated.  
  
"Yaaaaayyyyy!!!!" imitating Zim's voice, GIR yelled out, "Computer, take me to the not-so-main hanger!"  
  
The computer's voice rang out through the house, "Should I?"  
  
"Oh, very well. Proceed, computer," Zim said, waving his hand, like he always does.  
  
"Right," came the computer's voice. A whole opened up in the wall and GIR was sucked into it, laughing crazily.  
  
Zim sighed as he was brought to the main hanger. "That took forever!" he said, annoyed, "Computer, are you sure all features are working properly??"  
  
"Running diagnostic…" computer said, "No. The coffee machine is broken. I was fixing it."  
  
Zim rolled his eyes and set to work, trying to locate the egg.  
  
* * *  
  
The day had gone and Zim still had not located the egg. He was beginning to worry. If the egg fell into human hands, the consequences would be disastrous. Frustrated, he called for GIR to report to the main hanger. Not getting an immediate response, he peeked out the window, scanning the reddening sky for any signs of the escape shuttle.  
  
"I'll have to remember to reinstall the shuttle into the Cruiser, to prevent this from happening again," he muttered to himself.  
  
Then he caught sight of the shuttle zipping past the windows of the neighbors' houses! "HI BABIES!!!" GIR yelled as the shuttle did a loop in the air.  
  
"GIR!!!" Zim yelled, "Get back inside before someone sees you!!!"  
  
"Oh…" GIR said, disappointedly slowing the shuttle and steering it inside the base once more. Then he screamed, "BYE BABIES!!!" and promptly made his way up to the main hanger.  
  
"That's better," Zim said as GIR arrived, still looking dejected. "Now then, I've searched the Cruiser thoroughly and the egg is nowhere to be found. What did you do with it?!"  
  
"Oh yeah…" GIR said, "It fell out the window!"  
  
"WHAT!?!?!? How did that happen, GIR?????" Zim asked angrily.  
  
"Well we were flying along… [Begin memory sequence, with GIR narrating] and the egg told me that it wanted to see better…"  
  
Memory GIR: "What's that, egg? You wanna see better? OK!"  
  
Narrating GIR: "So I stuck it out the window! But it got heavy after a minute, so I let go,"  
  
Memory GIR: Holds egg out window, suddenly happens to see exotic bird fly by, forgets about egg, and lets it fall from at least a mile in the air. [End memory sequence]  
  
"It must be broken by now," GIR guessed.  
  
Zim's jaw fell open. He was totally speechless.  
  
Then the computer spoke up. "Egg has been located. Location located. Location on screen in laboratory."  
  
Zim was brought out of his stupor by this. "Finally! Some good news! Computer, quickly, take us down to the lab!" And the floor sunk once again, carrying them down to the lab.  
  
* * *  
  
Back at the Membrane household, Dib was trying to stuff all of his paranormal stuff into his suitcase, and quite unsuccessfully. Seeing as his suitcase was much too small for a decent amount of things, trying to overstuff it was downright impossible. He sat on it, trying to press it closed, but it snapped open and catapulted him off of his bed and onto the floor. He looked up to see Gaz standing in the doorway. He grinned sheepishly and asked her, "You wouldn't have any extra storage space, would you?"  
  
"No," she said flatly.  
  
"I'll give you a dollar," he prodded.  
  
"Um…no," she said again, and started back down the hallway to her room.  
  
Dib poked his head out the bedroom door, smiling slyly. "I'll let you in on a little info I found on-line…about 'Attack of the Mutant Cowslayer Part…III'," he said.  
  
Gaz stopped in her tracks. For months she'd been playing 'Attack of the Mutant Cowslayer Part II'. No one knew when the next installment was coming out, and the GS people weren't talking. In an instant she was nose- to-nose with him, hand on the collar of his T-shirt. "Tell me," she said.  
  
"If you impale me, I can't tell you," he said, and she released him. He cleared his throat, "It's going to come out in three weeks. It has 15 levels plus 7 hidden levels. You get 8 new weapons and there are 26 new types of villains and completely all new bosses! This is all before you finally actually corner the Mutant Cowslayer himself! After three games, you actually catch up to him, Gaz. Haven't you been playing all this time for just that reason?" Dib grinned, "Now about that extra space in your suitcase…"  
  
Gaz suddenly smiled and took her brother by the arm. "Right this way," she said pleasantly, leading him towards her room.  
  
* * *  
  
Zim's computer had located the egg at Dib's house. Since the satellite cameras couldn't penetrate the walls of the house, it only showed it from an outside view. Zim sat in front of the monitor, shocked. How had the Dib human come upon the egg when it had been dropped so far away from his home?  
  
As he pondered this, GIR had recovered his toys from earlier and was hugging them happily. Then he went back to banging them into each other, pretending that one was eating the other.  
  
The horrible squeaking finally got to Zim and he shouted, "GIR!! Stop that noise!!" GIR's lower lip trembled, but he obeyed. "Thank you," Zim said, "I need quiet in order to navigate the probe-bot."  
  
"The what?" GIR asked, coming up beside him.  
  
"The probe-bot," Zim explained, "I'm using it to infiltrate the Earth boy's house and locate the egg."  
  
"Oh…" GIR said.  
  
And so they turned their attention to the monitor, which was displaying what the probe-bot could 'see'. It entered the house through an upstairs window and stopped suddenly.  
  
Footsteps could be heard on the stairs. Prof. Membrane came up the stairs calling, "Dib? Gaz? How's the packing coming?"  
  
Dib appeared in the doorway of Gaz's room. "Great, Dad. We should be ready to go soon."  
  
Membrane nodded, not thinking it strange that Dib was putting his things in his sister's extra suitcase, "Good, good," he said, "The plane leaves in about an hour, so we'd better be going."  
  
Gaz stepped out of the room beside Dib. "No problem. I think we've got everything we'll need," she said, "Are you bringing that weird egg?"  
  
Membrane put a hand to where his chin would be if it wasn't covered by his lab coat, "Hmm…maybe that would be best…"  
  
"WHAT?!?!" Zim cried, shutting off the transmission, "They can't leave! Not with my egg!! GIR, we'll have to follow them to…wherever it is they're going!"  
  
"Yay!" GIR cheered, throwing his toys in the air. 


	2. Part 2 - The Arrival

Part II  
  
Arrival  
  
"Are we there yet?" GIR asked for the hundredth time since they'd left. They were in the Voot Cruiser, following Prof. Membrane's private jet at a safe distance, and the going was much too slow for their tastes.  
  
"No, GIR," Zim said impatiently, "We're no closer than we were five seconds ago."  
  
"Aww, man," GIR said, then entertained himself with his toys some more.  
  
Zim sighed. This was taking too long. At this rate, the egg would hatch before he could get to it, and who knew what problems that would cause!!  
  
A few hours later, the jet had landed and the Membrane family was riding towards their hotel in the company car. Unbeknownst to them, the Voot Cruiser was still following them. When they arrived at the Sci-Fi Hotel, the Cruiser was parked on the roof, hidden behind the giant, lit-up, UFO decoration.  
  
"Why do we have to stay here?" Gaz complained, as they made their way into the lobby.  
  
"Because you lost the toss," Membrane said simply, walking past the registration desk as one of his assistants hurried to sign them in.  
  
Dib grinned, "That's the way it is, Gaz. Maybe you'll get lucky next time."  
  
Gaz growled. They both knew how long it could be before 'next time'.  
  
"Now, now," Membrane said, "Let's not argue, kids. It's not like we'll be spending much time here anyway."  
  
They both nodded and hurried after him up the stairs to their room.  
  
* * *  
  
Outside, up on the roof, Zim climbed out of Cruiser and ran to the edge of the roof to survey the area. "What is this place?" he muttered to himself.  
  
GIR hopped out of the Cruiser as well and stared up at the lit-up UFO. "CAN I FLY THAT?!?!?!" he asked excitedly.  
  
Panicked, Zim tackled the little robot to the ground. "Be quiet, GIR," he said sternly, "We don't want to bring attention to ourselves, do we?"  
  
"Yes!" GIR said from the ground.  
  
"No, we don't," Zim said, "Now come on, let's investigate this building. I need to know what its purpose is and why the brats have come to stay here." He walked to the fire escape stairway and pried the door open. GIR pushed a button on the Cruiser and the lights blinked, locking it, and then he hurried to catch up to Zim as he descended the stairs.  
  
* * *  
  
Before they made contact with the humans, Zim just barely remembered to don his disguise and put GIR in the costume of the little big-headed boy with a beanie. Then they wandered the endless halls of hotel room, very confused.  
  
"It looks like a temporary apartment complex, GIR," Zim mused, "But its decor is oddly unnerving." He gazed up at a poster of the M.I.B. and shuddered, "Perhaps it would not be wise to stay here."  
  
"I like it!" GIR said, "It's homey!"  
  
So they wandered the halls until they found the one marked "Professor Membrane's Temporary Laboratory" and claimed the room across from it. As it turned out, the room already had people staying in it, but GIR scared them away very quickly. Then they settled in for the night. 


	3. Part 3 - Fun in the Magic Kingdom!

Part III  
  
Fun in the Parks  
  
The hot Florida sun came pouring in the windows of the Hotel Rooms. In the "Temp. Lab", Dib fumbled for his glasses as he sat up. Gaz was already awake, dressed in a black tank-top and shorts. Instead of her usual leggings, she wore fish-net stockings and big clunky black boots. She was sitting on the edge of the bed, playing her GS2.  
  
Professor Membrane came in from his bed room to see if they were up. He too was dressed differently, in a Hawaiian shirt with a collar buttoned so high, his face still wasn't visible and dark sunglasses instead of his lab goggles. "Oh, good! You're awake!" he said, "Hurry up, now. We've got lots to do!" Then he left the room as quickly as he had come in.  
  
Dib and Gaz looked at each other, shrugged, then hurried to get ready.  
  
Across the hall, Zim was still sleeping soundly, curled up in the king sized bed. The night before, he had put up a fit about the Hotel not having any decent sleeping chambers, but he'd found the bed surprisingly comfy. And G.I.R. had claimed the kitchen table for himself, stealing a pillow off the bed once Zim had fallen asleep.  
  
Now G.I.R. was creeping up on his master, as quiet as he could be. He stood next to the bed, jumped in the air and shouted "GOOD MORNING!!!!!!!!!" as loud as he could.  
  
Zim's eyes shot open, and he bolted upright, screaming as G.I.R. landed on the bed beside him. "Oh, it's just you," he said, "I didn't ask for a wake-up call, G.I.R."  
  
G.I.R. just smiled at him. "Dib and Gaz and their Dad already left," he said.  
  
"What?? So soon?? Curses!" Zim cried, jumping out of bed, "Quickly! We've got to catch up with them before they're too far to track!" He grabbed his disguise and raced out the door, with G.I.R. following after. A few seconds later, they reentered, Zim pushing G.I.R. back inside. He shut the door, stuffed G.I.R. into his disguise and they headed out once more.  
  
* * *  
  
As they entered the Magic Kingdom, Dib was glad he had decided to wear his blue, short-sleeved T-shirt with the gray non-smiley face and black shorts, rather than his usual trench coat get-up. If it had been hot at home, it was sweltering in Florida, even in the early morning.  
  
Gaz glanced around her, surveying the territory. "This place scares me…it's too happy. Remind me why I could bring my game?" she asked her father.  
  
"It's family togetherness time, Gaz!" Prof. Membrane explained, "You'll need real memories someday, not just what you get from those video games."  
  
Gaz frowned, then one of the characters came up to her. It waved stupidly at her. "AAIIIEEEEE!!!!" she screamed and ran behind Membrane's legs, clutching them, trembling.  
  
Dib slapped his forehead. His sister could be so embarrassing sometimes. Membrane knelt down and picked her up. "Really, dear, what in the world is there to be scared of here?"  
  
Gaz shuddered, and clutched her father's shirt. "Too…happy…and… stupid…"  
  
Membrane patted her head tenderly, "There, there…I guess all this sunlight is getting to you. Maybe staying indoors all the time isn't good for you." He stood up and began to walk away from the character.  
  
Dib hurried to keep up, grinning. "But Dad," he said, "If Gaz spends time outside, it would make her normal."  
  
Gaz growled under her breath and vowed vengeance on Dib at the next possible moment.  
  
* * *  
  
Meanwhile, Zim and GIR were entering the park over a side wall seeing as they were turned down at the front gate and "bounced" off the property when Zim protested. They landed on the pavement and looked around.  
  
"What is this place?" Zim mused. He had traded his normal uniform for something a little more tolerable of the heat: a magenta T-shirt and black shorts and his boots. GIR was in the little big-headed boy disguise.  
  
"I like it," GIR said, and ran off into the crowd.  
  
"GIR! Come back!" Zim called, running after him. He found him in front of a gift-shop window, staring up at a huge pile of stuffed animal characters. He grabbed GIR's arm. "Come on, GIR. We need to find the Dib creature quickly. It'll be hard enough in this mass of stink beasts without you wandering off all the time." Then he walked off, dragging GIR along behind him.  
  
* * *  
  
"Wow! The Buzz Lightyear ride!! I get to shoot at aliens!! Let's go!" Dib raced off toward it. Gaz and Prof. membrane sighed and then followed him. As they got closer to the ride, they noticed the large line of people. Seeing as waiting is for patient adults, not two young children, they went around the line and right to the front.  
  
"Excuse me," said the employee at the front, "But do you have a pass or something? Otherwise, you'll have to wait in line like everybody else!"  
  
Dib and Gaz just pointed to their dad, a known celebrity, "Sir, I do believe that because you woke up this morning and ate a nice, tasty slice of Super Toast this morning, you should feel inclined to let us through. I am Prof. Membrane after all, and if it weren't for me you would be hungry at this very moment! And doesn't this company have a celebrity policy? Hmm???"  
  
The young man looked very intimidated, so he stood up straight as possible and saluted to the Professor, then waved them in, stammering apologies.  
  
5 minutes later, they came out of the ride. Dib and Gaz had naturally scored the top rank possible. Dib because he went crazy and blasted everything in sight, and Gaz because of her videogame expertise. Their father, however, looked thoroughly bewildered and dizzy. The Disney World Security sadly had to decline Dib of a second try, because they didn't want another cart mangled.  
  
As they walked away, Gaz turned to Dib. "That was pretty cool. Do they have any others like it?"  
  
Dib shrugged, "I dunno. I think there's one in Universal Studios. Can we go there, Dad?"  
  
"Not today, son," Membrane said, shaking off his dizziness, "Today we are witnessing the magical magic of the Magic Kingdom!"  
  
Dib and Gaz looked at each other, shrugged and spotted the next ride. Not bothering to look at what it was, they hurried inside, with Prof. Membrane following close behind. Another 5 minutes later, they exited what had turned out to be It's A Small World. And they looked horrible. Dib's glasses had cracked and his spiked hair hung limp in front of his face. Gaz's normally squinted eyes were wide open and starring blankly into space, and she and developed a bit of a twitch. Prof. Membrane's sunglasses had swirls spinning on them and his one spike of hair also drooped listlessly.  
  
"I…I think that's enough magic for one day…" Dib stammered.  
  
Gaz only nodded.  
  
Then something green caught Dib's eye, making him lurch back to reality.  
  
"IT'S ZIM!!!!!!!!!!!!" Dib screamed, making his sister and father jump back to reality as well. They glanced in the direction that Dib was pointing frantically, but Zim (as it was him) had disappeared into the mass of in-duh-viduals.  
  
Membrane sighed, "Son, I think you're getting a little too obsessed with that boy. Now, I won't have you hallucinating while we're on vacation," he exhaled deeply, satisfied with his little speech, "Come along then. We have more magic to see!"  
  
"Yeah, Dib," Gaz said, "Try to be normal while we're here, ok?"  
  
"But…but…but…oh…never mind," Dib stammered, finally giving up his argument and hurrying after his family.  
  
* * *  
  
When Dib had seen Zim, he had been chasing after GIR once again. GIR had an unusual knack for disappearing into crowds very quickly. Just as Zim was about to give up and kick a trash can in anger, GIR reappeared at his side.  
  
"GIR!" Zim cried, "Where have you been?"  
  
GIR only grabbed his master's arm and dragged him off, finally leading him to the Pirates of the Caribbean ride. "I wanna see the pirates!!" he said excitedly.  
  
"We don't have time for this nonsense, GIR," Zim said, "We have to find Dib and get my egg back before –" But by this time, GIR had gone skipping into the ride, right past the line. "GIR! Get back here! Don't make me come get you!" Zim said, angrily following after the little robot.  
  
It wasn't long before he found himself seated in a mechanical boat with GIR, entering the ride. He crossed his arms and pouted. They were wasting time. Why did GIR have to be such a nuisance?  
  
Then the animatronic pirates caught his attention. He watched them, bewildered, not sure what to make of them. They looked like the humans, but their movements were far too jumpy, not life-like at all. What were they? And why were they dressed so oddly.  
  
Then the shooting started. Zim didn't know it was only smoke and lights, so he screamed and hid under the seat of the car. GIR giggled insanely and waved at the pirates. "HI THERE!!!" he called to them, grinning.  
  
When Zim looked up again, they were coming to the end and the gift- shop loomed in front of them like a bright light at the end of a tunnel. GIR hopped out of the car and Zim quickly followed.  
  
They exited the gift shop not long after. GIR wore a pirate hat and held a plastic sword in his hand. He couldn't have been any happier. Zim stomped after him, still fuming. GIR ran in circles around Zim and poked at him with the sword.  
  
"Why master not happy?" he asked, "Disney World is the happiest place on Earth!!!"  
  
Zim flinched. Just the words were disgusting to hear. "GIR!" he said, "Stop this!! We don't have time to –"  
  
But GIR was already dragging him off towards another ride. "No, GIR! Noooooo!!!!!"  
  
* * *  
  
It was night now and Zim and GIR were just arriving back at the hotel. GIR was as happy as could be, but Zim looked considerably bedraggled. His wig sat crooked on his head and one of his antennae stuck out. But at the moment, he really didn't care. He just wanted t get away from that horrible place as soon as possible. Besides, he'd seen so many freaks at the park that no one was bound to think anything of his unhidden antenna. Also, his contacts were acting up because of the awful heat. He couldn't wait to cast off his disguise and get some sleep.  
  
As they headed up the stairs, GIR sang the "Small World" song and hugged all of the things he'd bought in the numerous gift-shops. They reached their room, and just as Zim was about to announce their immediate departure when he heard the Membrane family coming up behind them. He grabbed GIR and ducked inside their room quickly. He tossed GIR aside and pressed his head to the door, listening in on the family's conversation.  
  
Outside in the hallway, the Membrane's looked just as worn out as Zim, but their moods were a bit more positive. As they prepared to enter the room, Gaz looked up at Prof. Membrane, "How's the egg-thing?"  
  
Membrane looked startled, as if he was coming out of a trance or something. He looked down at her, thought about it a minute, and then said, "I'll have to check on it first thing in the morning. Thank you, daughter." Then he entered the room, walked across the room and fell down on face first on the bed. Dib and Gaz exchanged glances and followed him inside, closing the door behind them.  
  
Zim cursed under his breath. This just proved that the humans were keeping the egg in their hotel room. This meant that they had to stay here longer in order to retrieve it. Moaning, he tore off his disguise and tossed it on the floor. Then he trudged across the room and crawled up onto the bed, sprawling himself across it in misery.  
  
Then GIR turned the TV on.  
  
* * *  
  
It was nearly midnight. It was also only 15 minutes since the Membranes had arrived back at the hotel. Dib and Gaz had found dry cereal in the mini-bar and were sitting on the edge of their father's bed, watching Zorro reruns on Disney Channel. They were so fixed on making fun of everything because it was so old, and yet marveling at every exciting moment, that they didn't notice poor Prof. Membrane trying to sleep.  
  
With every comment, laugh, and 'oooh' from the children, his face became more and more contorted with the insanity of a parent driven to the brink and beyond. At last, he snapped, sitting straight up and picking them both up by the collar, turning them around and telling them in deadly quiet, "Son, Daughter, I'm very tired and it's past midnight…" His voice raised substantially, "GO TO SLEEP!!!!!"  
  
With that, he flung them both into their beds and silenced the TV with a click of the remote. The Membrane family spent the rest of the night in a fearful (and for the Professor, peaceful) silence. 


End file.
